Ergonomic serving tray

ABSTRACT

The invention provides an ergonomic serving tray that comprises a flat and substantially circular tray body having a proximal end and distal end relative to a user, a cutout at the proximal end of the tray body for accommodating the user&#39;s arm, a three-position grip positioned at the distal end of the tray body for accommodating the user&#39;s hand, and a plurality of drink holder apertures arranged about the circumference of the tray and positioned between the cutout and the three-position grip, wherein each drink holder aperture is configured to hold a glass, such that at least a bottom of the glass lies beneath the tray body when the glass is inserted into the drink holder aperture.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to ergonomic serving trays for use in the food service industry. The serving trays educe strain on the user's wrist and thus reduce the chance of discomfort or injury.

BACKGROUND

Carrying heavy and/or unbalanced serving trays may lead to hand and wrist injuries in career waitpersons. The food service industry is the third largest industry in the United States and provides around ten (10) million jobs; thus, hand and wrist injuries such as tendonitis and carpal tunnel present a major problem.

SUMMARY

Conventional or state of the art serving trays may be unbalanced, may cause wrist pain due to bending of the wrist that is necessary to carry the tray by hand, may have a slippery top surface, and may additionally be difficult to maneuver around other people in a restaurant or other serving venue.

The invention is directed to an ergonomic and lightweight serving tray for reducing strain on a user's wrist while maximizing comfort and maneuverability. The trays disclosed herein allow a user to hold the tray at various positions while maintaining the wrist in a neutral and comfortable position. The trays have a lower center of mass than a standard serving tray and are therefore less likely to tip. This requires the user to apply less force with his/her hand in order to balance the tray, and thus reduces the strain on the wrist.

One aspect of the invention is an ergonomic serving tray that has a flat and substantially circular tray body having a circumference and a proximal end and a distal end relative to a user, a cutout at a proximal end of the tray body for accommodating the user's arm, and a three-position grip at a distal end of the tray body. The three-position grip accommodates the user's hand with the user's wrist held in a neutral position when the tray body rests on the user's forearm. A plurality of drink holder apertures are arranged about the circumference of the tray and between the cutout and the grip for holding glasses or cups therein. Each drink holder aperture is configured to hold a glass, such that at least the bottom of the glass lies beneath the tray body when the glass is inserted into the drink holder aperture.

Another aspect of the invention is directed to an ergonomic serving tray that has a flat and substantially circular tray body having a proximal end and a central portion, a cutout at a proximal end of the tray body for accommodating the user's arm, and a three-position grip positioned at the central portion of the tray body. A plurality of drink holder apertures are arranged about the circumference of the tray and between the cutout and the grip for holding glasses or cups therein. Each drink holder aperture is configured to hold a glass, such that at least the bottom of the glass lies beneath the tray body when the glass is inserted into the drink holder aperture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of an ergonomic serving tray according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of an ergonomic serving tray according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the ergonomic serving tray illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a plurality of stacked ergonomic serving trays as illustrated in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of the plurality of stacked ergonomic serving trays as illustrated in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the invention provides an ergonomic serving tray 100 having a flat and substantially circular tray body 102 with an inner elbow, upper arm or forearm cutout 104 (hereinafter referred to as forearm cutout 104) at a proximal (relative to user) end 106 and a three-position grip 108 at a distal end 110. The three-position grip 108 is shown roughly bounded by a dashed circle in FIG. 1. A plurality of drink holder apertures 112-122 are evenly spaced about the circumference of the tray 100 and between the forearm cutout 104 and the three-position grip 108. As illustrated in FIG. 1. the tray 100 has a total of six (6) drink holder apertures; however, it will be appreciated that the number and size of apertures may vary according to tray size, glass size, user requirements, or other specifications.

The tray 100 may be made from a natural, renewable material such as bamboo. A top surface 124 of the tray 100 may be treated with a non-slip treatment. In one aspect, the top surface 124 includes a rubber or silicone treatment or pad 152 (as illustrated in FIG. 2). Alternately, the top surface 124 may be textured (not shown) to increase the coefficient of friction of the top surface 124, such that small plates, condiments, additional glasses, silverware, straws or other items may be securely placed in the middle of the tray 100.

In use, glasses or cups (the term “glasses” is used hereafter to encompass all types of glasses and cups) are inserted into the drink holder apertures 112-122. The drink holder apertures 112-122 are sized to receive and hold a glass proximate a vertical mid-portion of the glass, such that at least the bottom of the glass lies below the tray 100 when the glass is inserted into the aperture 112-122. In one aspect, the apertures 112-122 are sized to hold a glass between its vertical midpoint and its upper rim, such that a majority of the weight of the tilled glass lies beneath the tray 100 when the tray 100 is carried by the user. As such, the tray 100 lowers the center of mass of a standard, full tray, which stabilizes the tray upon the user's forearm. Beneficially, circular drink holder apertures 112-122 may accommodate a variety of glass shapes and sizes, such as martini glasses, wine glasses, and champagne flutes, as long as the glass is tapered such that its rim is larger than the diameter of the aperture 112-122 and its base is smaller than the diameter of the aperture 112-122. The drink holder apertures 112-122 may further include slit openings 138 through a circumferential edge 146 of the tray body 102. The slit openings 138 may, for example, lend some flexibility to the apertures 112-122, allowing the apertures 112-122 to accommodate a wider variety of glass sizes. Moreover, the slit openings 138 may allow for the insertion of a variety of glasses having stems, such as wine or martini glasses. The slit openings 138 may be sized differently depending on the type of glasses that are being carried or the particular needs of the user (e.g., the slit openings 138 shown in FIG. 1 are smaller than the slit openings 138 shown in FIG. 2).

The three-position grip 108 may be formed by a pair of slots, a first slot 126 proximate the distal end 110, and a second slot 128 behind the first slot 126 (relative to distal end 110). First and second slots 126 and 128 and tray body 102 provide for three gripping positions. In one position, a user may wrap his/her fingers about a distal bar 130 formed between the distal end 110 and the first slot 126. Secondly, a user may insert his/her fingers into the first slot 126 and wrap them around a central bar 132 formed between the first and second slots 126 and 128. Thirdly, a user may insert his/her fingers into the second slot 128 and wrap them over an innermost rim 134 formed by the second slot 128. The tray 100 accommodates a variety of forearm lengths by providing three user-selectable grip positions, all of which maintain the user's wrist in a neutral position when tray 100 rests upon the user's forearm. It will be appreciated that wrapping of the fingers is up to the user and that fingers may be inserted into the first or second slot 126 or 128 without wrapping.

Conventional trays can be difficult to carry upon the forearm (thus encouraging the user to use a stressful, bent-wrist carry), as the tray rim may press into the crook of the elbow or the upper arm when the elbow bends. The forearm cutout 104 enhances the freedom of movement of a user carrying the tray 100 by accommodating the crook of the elbow or the forearm when the user bends his or her arm. As the grip 108 lies in the same plane of the tray 100, the user's wrist remains in a neutral position beneath tray 100 when the tray rests upon the user's forearm (e.g., when a centerline of the tray 100 between the forearm cutout 104 and the grip 108 rests upon the user's forearm).

In another embodiment, a lower surface 136 of tray 100 may be treated with a pad (not shown) to enhance user comfort or grip of the tray 100 with a user's clothing or skin. In another aspect, the lower surface 136 includes a thin, textured cushion, for example, a thin rubber pad (not shown). The tray body 102 is shown as a flat, thin circular-shaped structure. In one aspect, the tray body 102 may be slightly curved along its diameter. For example, the tray body 102 may curve slightly downward from its centerline toward the drink holder apertures 112-116 and from the centerline toward the drink holder apertures 118-122, in order to further lower the center of weight of the filled tray and further stabilize the tray 100 on a user's forearm (not shown).

In another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, each drink holder aperture 112-122 may include a non-slip rim 140, such as a rubber or silicone rim, along the interior circumference 142 of each drink holder aperture 112-122. This ensures that the glasses do not move around once they are positioned into the drink holder aperture 112-122. In a further embodiment, the three-position grip 108 may include non-slip pads 144, such as rubber or silicone pads, on the central bar 132 and/or the innermost rim 134. These pads have an ergonomic shape so as to be easily grasped by the user's hand and fingers and secure the user's grip to minimize the risk of dropping the tray 100. Although not shown, the three-position grip 108 may also include grooves corresponding to the user's fingers to allow the user's hand to more naturally and ergonomically grip the tray 100. Such grooves may be positioned along the distal bar 130, the central bar 132, and/or the innermost rim 134.

In yet another embodiment, the three-position grip 108, including the central bar 132 and innermost rim 134, may be positioned closer to the center of the tray 100 (not shown). In this way, additional drink holder apertures 112-122 may be positioned along the distal end 110 of the tray 100 to increase the glass-holding capacity of the tray 100.

In another embodiment, the circumferential edge 146 of the circular body 102 of the tray 100 may include at least one lighting apparatus 148, such as LED lighting, so as to provide illumination for the user in a darker setting. The lighting apparatus 148 also alerts patrons to the presence of the user so as to avoid humping into one another.

In another aspect of the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 3-5, the lower surface 136 of the tray 100 includes a plurality of indentations 150 to allow for easier stacking of the trays 100. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, multiple trays 100 may be stacked directly on top of one another such that the plurality of indentations 150 on one tray 100 engages the top surface 124 of the tray 100 directly beneath it. The plurality of indentations 150 may be made of a non-slip material such as rubber or silicone. In this way, the trays 100 are less like to slid off of one another when they are in a stacked position.

While the present invention has been described above, it should be clear that many changes and modifications may be made to the process and product without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An ergonomic serving tray, comprising: a flat and substantially circular tray body having a circumference and a proximal end and distal end relative to a user; a cutout at the proximal end of the tray body for accommodating the user's arm; a three-position grip positioned at the distal end of the tray body for accommodating the user's hand, the three-position grip comprising a first slot proximal to the distal end of the tray body and a second slot proximal to the first slot; and a plurality of drink holder apertures arranged about the circumference of the tray and positioned between the cutout and the three-position grip, wherein each drink holder aperture is configured to hold a glass, such that at least a bottom of the glass lies beneath the tray body when the glass is inserted into the drink holder aperture.
 2. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second slots are configured such that the user may wrap his or her fingers about: (a) a distal bar positioned between the distal end of the tray body and the first slot, or (b) a central bar positioned between the first slot and the second slot, or (c) an innermost rim positioned proximal to the second slot.
 3. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the three-position grip allows for grip customization according to the forearm length of the user.
 4. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the plurality of drink holder apertures lowers a center of mass of the tray when the tray is in use by the user.
 5. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the tray body is formed of bamboo.
 6. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the circular tray body has an upper surface comprising a non-slip treatment.
 7. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 6, wherein the non-slip treatment is a rubber or silicone pad.
 8. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the cutout allows the user to bend his/her elbow while carrying the tray upon his/her forearm.
 9. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the plurality of drink holder apertures are of the same size or of varying sizes.
 10. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of drink holder apertures have a non-slip rim formed along an interior circumference thereof.
 11. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 10, wherein the non-slip rim is a rubber or silicone rim.
 12. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the three-position grip further includes non-slip pads.
 13. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 2, further comprising non-slip pads positioned on the central bar and/or the innermost rim.
 14. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the cutout includes a non-slip pad.
 15. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 2, wherein the three-position grip further includes grooves positioned on the distal bar, the central bar, and/or the innermost rim.
 16. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, further comprising lighting apparatus along a circumferential edge of the substantially circular tray body.
 17. The ergonomic serving tray of claim 1, wherein the substantially circular tray body has a lower surface that includes a plurality of indentations.
 18. An ergonomic serving tray, comprising: a flat and substantially circular tray body having a proximal end and a central portion relative to a user; a cutout at the proximal end of the tray body for accommodating the user's arm; a three-position grip positioned at the central portion of the tray body for accommodating the user's hand; and a plurality of drink holder apertures arranged about the circumference of the tray and positioned between the c out and the three-position grip, wherein each drink holder aperture is configured to hold a glass, such that at least a bottom of the glass lies beneath the tray body when the glass is inserted into the drink holder aperture. 